The Sunnyside Intermediate School student smiled along with classmates at his table as they got a first look at their tablets for the year. The iPads are a part of Lafayette School Corp.’s one-to-one program.

The district last fall started with a pilot program for third- and fourth-graders. This year, fifth- and sixth-graders will receive tablets, and the program will extend to students in seventh grade and above.

The tablets allow for a more individualized education. During class, students can do research on the iPad and then create something from there, assistant principal Matt Brown said.

“Students are no longer just regurgitating information. They are creating something in a new and engaging manner,” he said.

Jerry was eager to make presentations for class. With such apps as Garage Band, Keynote and Pages, the fifth-grader said he can make interactive PowerPoints for his homework.

“It saves paper,” he said.

Fifth-grader Davionna Lewis was excited to personalize her tablet, but knows it will be helpful with homework, too.

“If anything gets hard, I can just go to the calculator app and figure it out,” she said.

New technology allows for students to expand their learning outside Sunnyside’s doors. Teacher Jason Vandewalle said when his students learn about geometry, they can look up right angles on the Internet and make a video of the ones they find in their home.

“Then they can put that on a blog and share it across social media,” he said. “They can exchange information with Grandma in California in a way that they couldn’t before.”

Vandewalle has found that students are more engaged and excited to learn since the iPads have been introduced.

“It’s like night and day with the technology in their hands,” he said.